Full Steam Ahead!: Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Work and Your Life

Full Steam Ahead! is by far the best book I've read in the past two years. An enjoyable, easy to read book, it is powerful, practical and full of good advice. It should be required reading for all managers or anyone who aspires to any kind of leadership position. Full Steam Ahead! is packed with real-world examples that show how the ideas presented in the book translate to action. It gives examples of real businesses, public schools, fire departments, etc and also personal examples of real people. Blanchard and Stoner say that anyone can create a powerful vision, and they show you how. They EXPLAIN HOW to create a shared vision for your team and also how to create a compelling vision for your own life. If you have been feeling that something is missing or wondering what to do next, by all means read this book. It will show you how a vision provides energy, focus and clear direction, how others have successfully created vision and how you can do it also.Some of the core messages are;1) There are three important parts to a vision: significant purpose, clear values, and picture of the future. You need all three to have a compelling vision.2) Purpose is your reason for existence. It needs to be defined from your customer's viewpoint. It's not just the products and services that you provide.3) Values guide your behaviors and decisions on a day by day basis.4) A picture of the future is not something vague like being number one or beating the competition.5) Others need an opportunity for involvement in creating the vision. This leads to deeper understanding and commitment.6) Ongoing communication is essential. Vision isn't something you create, file, and then forget. You need to keep it alive.7) Live the vision as if it is happening now. You must behave consistently with you vision.The best advice I can give you is to do what I did. First read it yourself. Next have everyone on your team read it. Then follow the advice in the book and go Full Steam Ahead!

There's something about this book that's different. Other business novels I've read often seem light and superficial--motivational but not practical. There is nothing superficial about this book. The authors' messages are powerful and can easily be applied. Instead of just telling you how important it is to have a vision, they show you how to create one. I was impressed that I could learn so much from a short, enjoyable to read book.

This book will definitely help you both in your personal and professional life. I finished reading it two weeks ago. I keep thinking about it and finding new ways to apply the learnings. I'm going to read it again. It is filled with practical ideas and useful concepts that can be applied everywhere--at home and at work. I was deeply touched by the story. It is extremely well written. Blanchard and Stoner have written a book that is deceptively simple, yet filled with significant insights. I think this is possibly the best book Ken Blanchard has co-authored yet!You don't have to be a business person to benefit from the wisdom in this book!

Everyone on our team was expected to read this book before beginning our project. I must admit I was initially not very enthusiastic about being given a book to read. But once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I read it in one sitting! I had always looked at vision as "soft." This book shows how it is practical and necessary and it shows how to easily apply the ideas. Using the book as a reference, our team created a shared vision for our project that was supported by senior management. I have never been on a team that accomplished so much in such a short timeframe--we were focused, energized and easily moved Full Steam Ahead! Note: This book is applicable to all aspects of your life (not just work).

If you're like me, and have spent countless hours in countless meetings trying to develop a "vision statement" for your organization without ever really getting to the point, then this book is for you. Blanchard (The One Minute Manager) and Stoner have skillfully crafted an allegorical tale of Jim and Ellie, one a successful but uninspired business owner, and the other a recently-hired employee who serves as a sounding board and confidant. In their conversations, Jim confides to Ellie that running the insurance company his father created just isn't all that exciting anymore. Notes Jim: "When my father was president, everything here was full steam ahead." He goes on to say that his father really inspired the employees - they felt like they were doing important things at work, and there was real joy in the agency then. When Ellie asks whether "full steam ahead" means being reckless, or moving ahead blindly in the face of danger, Jim responds, "No, I think it's the opposite. It means having vision - being so clear about your purpose, so committed to it, and so sure about your ability to accomplish it, that you move ahead decisively despite any obstacles." This characterizes the tone and sentiment of the book - discovering the ability to unleash transformative power by developing a clear vision of where you want to take your organization and your personal life.The authors delineate the three elements of a successful vision: significant purpose, clear values, and a picture of the future. This last element, what the future will look like, resonated especially strongly for me as I read the book- the idea that you know you're on the right path when you can see a clear picture of what it's going to look like when you reach your goal. Examples abound here: JFK's vision of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s, Soviet athletes' technique of "mental rehearsal" in the 1976 Olympics, even skiing down a difficult hill. Using Ellie as a creative muse, Jim comes to realize that his insurance company does have purpose (peace of mind) and values (ethics, relationships, success) which permit him to develop a picture of the future where employees look forward to coming to work each day and strive to provide unparalleled customer service. Of course, the process of creating the vision is perhaps as important as the vision itself - working together to develop a common theme invests members of the organization as stakeholders, and that can build cohesion and a common sense of purpose.In the final analysis, this book is extremely well-written, engaging, and hard to put down!